Lue opens up on relationship with Tatum: 'He's never been scared'

Lue opens up on relationship with Tatum: 'He's never been scared'

It’s all love off the court, but Missouri relatives Tyronn Lue and Jayson Tatum will have to put their family ties aside when the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics clash in the Eastern Conference Finals.

After Thursday’s practice, the Cavaliers head coach revealed that his relationship with the budding superstar rookie goes way back.

“He’s like my little cousin,” Lue said of Tatum. “His dad, Justin Tatum, is best friends with Larry Hughes and they come down all the time. He’s a part of my extended family, Justin is. They come to Mexico (Lue’s hometown) all the time and just seeing little Jay when he was six, seven years old now to who he is today is crazy.”

“Seeing the player he’s become – we knew he was gonna be good, but now he’s at a whole new level. Just seeing him coming to Mexico and just coming to my barbecues and all that stuff. Now he’s an NBA player and playing at a high level. It’s just good to see.”

Lue told reporters that he saw professional basketball in his future around the age of 14 or 15. Recently, he and Justin were going through old pictures in awe of how much he’s grown, not only physically, but on the court.

“Just seeing who he is today,” Lue shook his head smiling. “A little kid to now, he’s 6-8, 6-9 and playing for the Celtics. Six or seven straight 20-point games in the playoffs. It’s just kinda weird to me.”

Tatum’s dominance has been unprecedented for a rookie, especially when it comes to the postseason. Lue believes that it’s started with his toughness and his willingness to embrace the spotlight.

“He’s not scared,” Lue said. “He’s not afraid. He’s always been a type of kid that—he wants these type of moments. He’s taken advantage of it I think with Kyrie [Irving] and Gordon [Hayward] going down and him having a chance to play the minutes he’s been playing—starting and playing in the playoffs the way he has—he’s taking full advantage of it.

“He’s never been scared, never been afraid of the big moment. You can see that.”

In addition to those qualities as a competitor, the aspects surrounding his game have evolved. As a kid, Lue says Tatum was always fast, but as he’s grown in size, it’s allowed him to take a more methodical approach – so much, that he actually compared him to a Celtics legend and surefire Hall-of-Famer.

“I think as he got taller he’s slowing down a little bit. But I think that’s helped his game a lot because he’s never in a rush. He plays patiently.

“He reminds me a lot of Paul Pierce when Paul first came out. Just being able to get to the free throw line, great footwork, never gets sped up offensively. He’s a really good player.”

Now that he’s gotten the praise for his little cousin out of the way, however, it’s time to game plan. Lue admits that it won’t be easy from a basketball and personal standpoint.

“It’s tough because you want to see him do well, but not against you,” Lue said. “We just gotta try to take him, be physical with him, not let him get easy baskets. He’s gonna score because he can post, he can put it on the floor, but we gotta just try to take away his easy baskets as much as possible.”

With the Eastern Conference Finals set to begin Sunday afternoon at the TD Garden, it should be a fun storyline to pay attention to.

Now who’s ready for Cavaliers-Celtics Game 1?

Like this article?

Sign up for the LeBron Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning

Success

Thanks for signing up.
You'll be waking up a little more awesome tomorrow.